Donating Retail Space

Our in-kind scheme, which utilises the space we have in our retail assets to support third sector organisations.

Each of our retail destinations is encouraged to provide both commercial mall space and retail units to charitable organisations.

Our Retail Space Partners

We have supported a number of organisations with retail unit space. The three featured here are excellent examples of local initiatives that bring enormous benefit to their communities, social and economic. We are delighted to be able to support their activities and those of the many other organisations we provide in-kind space for across the portfolio.

Lives not Knives - Centrale, Croydon

Lives not Knives was founded by Eliza Rebeiro in 2007 as a campaign to make people aware of the dangers of knife crime. It has since evolved and now supports young people into education, employment and training.

Lives not Knives has occupied a unit withiin Centrale Shopping Centre, Croydon, for over a year, providing them with the space they need to engage local young people.

Of the 141 young people supported in the first year of the unit being open, 61 were known to the criminal justice system and 50 of those (82%) have not reoffended since the completion of their work with the programme. This is an enourmous achievement and one we remain proud to support.

109 of the 141 young people were able to secure full-time education or employment.

34 young people were leaving care, 25 of them have secured either full-time education or employment.

Of the 55 young people in this breakdown, 53 are now in full-time education, providing an estimated annual saving of £157,016 in public spending.

CVA is the umbrella organisation providing support to over a thousand voluntary and community organisations in the Croydon area. They provide support on the many practical administrative and organisational elements necessary to make a local voluntary group work. This includes setting up, charity registration, fundraising, finding premises, marketing, financial management, policies and procedures and much more. Not exciting maybe but fundamental.

They also provide training in a full range of subjects to meet the needs of small new voluntary groups and social enterprises as well as large established charities. As well as enabling groups and individuals to access appropriate funding to support local communities, Croydon Voluntary Action’s Capacity Building Service helps not for profits to develop their capacity to sustain themselves longer-term AND to run as effectively as possible.

CVA have occupied a unit in Centrale Shopping Centre, Croydon since 2013, providing them with the space they need to accommodate the training and support they deliver.

Wot Space and Somewhereto - Highcross, Leicester

Opened in February 2014, Wot Space at Highcross Leicester is the UK’s very first brokerage agency to provide an accommodation-matching service for youngsters looking for a venue to bring their ideas to life.

The provision of the the unit at Highcross is part of a much longer partnership between the Highcross team and Wot Box, the regional delivery partner for Somewhere to_, the national movement to utilise underused or empty space across the UK to support young people aged 16-25 to do the things they love.

In providing a former marketing suite, Hammerson has enabled the launch of a unique platform for young people in Leicester to develop their creative talents. Following the opening of the unit, 98 individuals signed up to Somewhere to_ in just eight weeks. More on somewhereto_.